About the album

Suren Bagratuni, cello
Hrant Bagrazyan, piano

Songs From My Childhood is tribute and a “Thank You” to Bagratuni’s teachers Zareh Sarkisyan, Natalia Shakhovskaya, Daniil Shafran and Laurence Lesser, who, in his formative years, shared their knowledge, mastery and love of the cello.

The two CD volume contains a collection of “miniatures,” each is a stand-alone work of art that illustrates the instrument’s virtuosic, timbral and lyrical depth.

Artwork for the CD is from the contemporary Armenian artist, Arevik Mkrtchyan, a series of beautiful Komitas paintings. 

Produced by Sergei Kvitko. Recorded and engineered by Jennifer Shangraw and Sergei Kvitko. Recorded at Fairchild Theater of the MSU Auditorium and Blue Griffin Studio. This recording is funded through HARP grant from Michigan State University.

About the artist

Suren Bagratuni, MSU professor of cello

Winner of the silver medal at the 1986 International Tchaikovsky Competition while still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, Bagratuni has gone on to a distinguished international career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. In addition to performing throughout the former Soviet Union, he has toured worldwide, earning enthusiastic praise in both traditional and contemporary repertoire.

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, he began his musical education there at the age of seven. After winning several national and international competitions, he continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory and later in the United States at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Bagratuni began performing at age ten, and by age fourteen appeared as a concerto soloist performing Saint-Saens’ Concerto with the Armenian State Radio Orchestra. Since then he has performed with all the major orchestras in the former Soviet Union, including the Moscow Philharmonic (under the direction of Valery Gergiev) and has also appeared with numerous orchestras in Europe, Asia, and North and South America.

His solo appearances include recitals in the major concert halls of the world. Chamber music appearances have included guest invitations with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Newport Music Festival, the “Russian Winter” Festival in Moscow, the El Paso Pro Musica International Festival, Bargemusic, and international festivals in Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Korea, China, and Taiwan.